Fence-post.



P J. HINDMARSH.

FENCE POST.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 23,1915.

Patented Feb. 1, 1916.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PERCY .1'.

HINDMARSH. OF LJN'COLN. NEBRASKA ASSIGNGR TO THE AMERICAN STEEL d'. WRECOMPANY OF NEW JERSEY OF HOBOKEN, NEW' JERSEY, A COR PORA'IIN OI' NEWJERSEY.

FENCEPOST.

Application fied June 23, 1915.

iii il linown [bal l. lliiav J. llixnxroisn, a citizen of the l'uiledStates. andresident ot' Lincoln. in the county of VLancaster and Siateof Nebraska. have invented certain new and usrtul lmprowinents inFencelosts. oi' which the lollowing is a .specificalion.

A\.l v invention relates to fence posts and hasy particular reference loa novel corner post and ini-ans for anrhorin}h the .saine in the ground.

lli the construction of the post l utilize a tubular post member and ananchor meinber in the forni oi' a erucit'orin bar having a lared andpointed lower end, the object being,Y to provide nii-ans whereby th l.anchoringr ineinber may be readily driven and the pest driven thereover.the arrangen'ient being' such that the low er end ot the, post, 1sflared outwardly. and during such llaring operation the dirt is causedto pack between the anchor and the tubular post to securely hold the twoin engagement. The necessity tor this arises for the following reasons:After the post has been driven and the lower end properly llared, unlessmeans are provided for holding the anchoring member and the post inengagement, the post has a tendenev to rise under draft. the linkeswhich .were previously formed becoming straightened out. leaving` thespreader in its Y original position. This is overcome by uniting the twoby frictional engagement ot the soil. '.lhe reason why these linkes havea tendency to straighten out is because of the fact of their disposal atsubstantially right angles to thc plane of the post. therefore I?,ving?" a greater leverage tending to .straighten rhein out and alsobecause of the that the section of metal at the point .he bend is lessthan at any other point, this being necessary to secure the properbending action,

A still farther object is to extend the wings ot the spreader out as faras possible, in order te give support for the tlultes at a point as nearas possible to their ends, thus reducingr the lei crane tendineY torebend the saine, The holding engagement between the spreader ard thepost is secured by the simple expedient. ot' providingr a stop for thesoil which as a tendency lo rise between the spreader and the post.

My irrv'cntirm` also comprises a novel brace Specification of LettersPatent.

Patented Feb. i, i9! t?.

Serial No. 35,771.

l'or use in connection with an end post of this description.

'The invention will be more readily understood by reference to theaccompanying draw ings wherein- Figure 1 is a vertical section through apost and spreader, the spreader having been driven and the post havingbeen driven thereover to the point where the lower end thereof is aboutto be spread by `continued dri vintr of the post; Fig. 2 is a similarview showing the post in its driven position; Fig. 2l is a section onthe line 3 3 of Fig. 1; Fig. L is a section on the line LA of Fig. 1:Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5--5 of Fig. l and Fig. 6 is an enlargedperspective view of the spreader.

Referring moreparticularly to the drawings. it will be seen that lprovide a post 10, preteral'ily of tubular form, the lower end ot''which is slitted a short distance to provide four portions which may bespread outwardly to form flultes. At. the point of the termination ofthe slits I drill small holes ll. This serves to reduce the section ot'metal at this point and to insure its proper bending. The spreader 12 ispreferably of crucii'orm cross section and is provided with a drivinghead 13 and a flared lower end consisting of webs 14 projecting,r

outwardly Yfrom each web of the cruciform shank thereof; these webs orwings` as indicated in Figs. 1 and Q, extend outwardly a materialdistance. The upper edge of the webs 14 are preferably curved at thepoint oi junction with the body of the spreader in order to give theproper flare or bend to the lower end of the post when it is dri\enthereover. The degree of curvature can be readily determined byexperiment. .\s will be seen. ine space between the adjacent webs 14 isopen, providing ready access for the soil between the different webs ofthe shank. thus permitting the soil to surround the shank of thespreader as it is being driven. At a point near the upper end of thespreader l provide stops 15, as best, shown in Fig. 3, whichsubstantially close the passage between the webs of the cruciformedmember. The object in the provision of these stops is as follows: Thespreader isy driven until the stops 15 are practically level with thesurface of the ground. This serves as a gage to determine the properpoint to drive the spreader.

Thereafter the post is driven over the spreader and the spreader is notdisturbed materially until the lower end of the post contacts the webs14. The continued driving on the post serves to iiare the lower end ofthe post and at the same time to drive the spreader deeper into theground, as indicated in Fig. 2. The soil which Occupied the spacebetween the webs of the spreader when driven, of course, remains inplace after the post has been driven thereover. Continued driving of thepost and spreader forces more soil into the post, and as the spreader islikewise driven to a certain eX- tent and the soil is unable to risehigher than the stops 15, the soil is rigidly packed on the interior ofthe post and the spreader and post are rigidly held against movement,due to frictional engagement ot' the soil, the parts finally reachingthe position of Fig. 2. The necessity for this, as heretofore described,is in order to provide a support for the lukes of the post withoutcorresponding elevation of the spreader. It will be seen that if thepost is permitted to rise and the spreader to remain in its position,there will be no support to prevent the lukes from straightening out orfrom being broken because of the leverage of the flukes. Furthermore,the packing of the soil as dcscribed, has the added function ofpreventing further descent of the spreader which would occur 1f noresistance were oi'ered to such further descent. The soil not only packsin the interior of the post, but also around the lower endof thespreader and, therefore, assists Akin spreading the dukes and providinga solid base on which they rest. This is particularly essential anddesirable where the post is installed in soft ground.

In order to provide an indication when the post has been properlylocated, that is, when the flukes have been spread to the mostadvantageous point, I locate a hole 1G in the side of the post throughwhich the upper end or driving head 13 of the spreader may be seen.

As described, I provide but four of the webs 14, thus leaving a spacethrough which the soil may enter the post. By the provision of four ofthese webs and by slitting the post to provide four flakes, it might bepossible that the webs would in some instances register with the slitsand no spreading action occur. I obviate this. as shown in Fig. 5, byiattening one side 17 of the post for a short distance near the lowerend.

The post, as described heretofore. will be found to be ecient in servicefor several reasons, not the least of which is in that the anchoring orspreadingr member serves likewise as a support for the post from itslowest oint to a point considerably above the sur ace of the ground.vThis gives the strengthening effect at the point where most needed andresults in a construction having a strength equal to that of a postwhich is much heavier. By the use of a light post driving becomes mucheasier than would be possible with a post ot a size corresponding tothat of the strength secured in the presv ent construction.

I claim:

1. In a fence post, the combination of a spreader of angular crosssection and provided with wings at its lower end, said spreader beingprovided with a transverse web near its upper end, and a tubular postadapted to be driven over said spreader, substantially as described.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination of a spreader ofangular cross section and provided at its lower end with wingscorresponding to tlle webs of the Spreader, a transverse wall near theupper end `o f said spreader, and a tubular post adapted to be drivenover said spreader, sub4 stantiallv as described.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination of a spreader ofcrucit'orm cross section and provided with wings at its lower end, onefor each oi the webs of the shank of the spreader trarvcrse webs unitingthe vertical webs oi said sprvader, and a tubular post having a slittedlower end and adapted to be driven over said spreader. the wings on saidspreader being adapted to cause the lower end of said post to flare andthe transverse webs being adapted to cause the soil to pack between thepost and the spreader. substantially as described.

4. In a device of the class described, the combination of a spreader ofcruciform cross section and provided with wings at its lower end, thenumber oi said wings corresponding to the number of webs in the shank ofsaid spreader. transverse webs uniting the longitudinal webs of thespreader near the upper end thereof", and a tubular post. the lower endof which is slitted and adapted to be flared upon being driven over saidspreader, substantially' as described.

5. In a device of the class described, the combination of a spreader otcruciform cross section, and a tubular post. adapted to be driventhcreover. said post being fiattened on one side near its lower end (oprevent relative rotary movement between thc spreader and the post.substantially as described.

6. In a` device of the class described. the combination of a spreaderadapted to be driven into the ground. leaving a portion of the upper endthereof projecting above the ground, said spreader being provided with atransverse web. said web acting as an indicator of the point to whichsaid spreader should be driven. and a tubular post adapt` ed to bedriven over said spreader, the lower end of said spreader and post beingopen to permit the entrance of soil to the "interior of the tube, saidweb near the upper end of the spreader serving as a stop tov preventfurther upward movement of the soil and to thereby cause the packing ofthe soil within' the post,A substantially as described.

7. In a device of the clas described, the combination of a spreaderhaving a driving head adapted lto project above the surface of theground after. said spreader hasv beenv driven, the lower end lfof saidspreader being flared, and a. tubular pos'thaying a'sitted lower .endadapted.` to be fiared by said spreader,`.said post being provided withan aperture ltin its sidewall through which the 1u per'eiid ofsaidspreader may be olo-v serve to determine the proper point to whichsaid'post should .be driven, substantally as described.

8. In a device ofthe-class described., the

combination of a spreader of crucifor-m cross section, the lower ends ofthe webs of said spreader being flared, a tubular post having l aslitted lower end adapted to be driven over s'oilpinto the post duringthe duving action to prevent relative movement between the post andspreader, the flared portion of the spreader being caused to underliethe linkes formed on the post by the driving action and to remain incontact therewith in order to support the same during upward strains onthe post, substantially as described.

9. In a device of the class described, fthe;`

combination of a s reader of cruciform cross section and provi ed withfour wings at its lower end, said wings corres ending to th Webs of thespreader, aftu ular post, the, i

lower end of which is slitted to `provide four?l lukes, and means-forpreventing the registering of the slits in said tube and the wings onsaid spreader, substantially 'as-described. Signed'at De Kalb, Ill.,thisv9th day of June, 1915. PERCY J. HINDMARSH.

Witnesses:

J. M. LONG, H. BUSH.

